All pickup trucks have a “bed” that is disposed immediately to the rear of the passenger cabin. This bed comprises side walls, a floor and a lift gate. To prevent access to the contents of the pickup truck bed, many pickup trucks use a truck bed cap which seals the cap to the bed at its sidewalls and lift gate. Access to that portion of a pickup truck that is covered by such a truck bed cap is usually via the hinged rear glass access window of the cap.
To that end, it is well known in the art to incorporate a combined handle and lock assembly into the rear glass access window of the cap. In the applicable art, such handle and lock assemblies typically take the form of a “T-shaped” handle having a lock cylinder disposed within that portion of the handle that is generally positioned in the middle of the window, towards the bottom, the handle being perpendicular to the hinged rear glass access window (“rear window” or “glass access window”). When locked, the T-shaped handle cannot be rotated about its axis. When a key is used to unlock the handle, the handle can be rotated, which releases locking mechanisms to either side of the window and allows the user to pull the handle upwardly and to rotate the rear window upwardly and about its hinges which are typically disposed along the top margin of the access window.
In the view of these inventors, there is a need to provide a simplified truck cap handle and lock assembly that is easier to use and which can also be easily converted to an electronic actuated version when such is desired or required.